Removal of up to 70 million cubic yards of debris and fixing the roofs of 110,000 damaged houses on the U.S. Gulf Coast are two of the biggest tasks still looming in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the head of the Army Corps of Engineers said on Thursday according to Reuters. "Right now, we're looking at, we estimate, about 70,000 roofs in Louisiana, about 35,000 in Mississippi and about 5,000 in Texas," Lt. Gen. Carl Strock told a Pentagon briefing. "A big mission to go in and allow people to reoccupy their homes until they can put permanent repairs in place. This is critical for solving some of the housing shortages -- put people back where they live," he added. Strock said debris removal by government contractors was also a critical issue and that the Corps of Engineers -- operating under the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA -- had already issued contracts for up to $2 billion in cleanup. Only 8 million cubic yards has been removed so far, he added, calling it major progress from a historical standpoint after last month's devastating blows by Katrina. --more 2314 Local Time 2014 GMT
